Joe Biden Guest Starred in a Making a Murderer–Inspired Episode of Law & Order: S.V.U.

Chung, chung! The Law & Order: S.V.U. episode fans have been waiting for finally happened: Joe Biden kicked off Wednesday’s episode with a cameo, in which he spoke out against the rape-kit backlog. Sadly, Biden’s appearance was brief—but he did get to share a room with the episode’s villain. If you’re spoiler-averse, you might want to take an hour to watch the episode before reading on.

This episode, the second in the procedural’s 18th (!) season, continues a time-honored tradition in the S.V.U. canon: riffing on pop culture and real-life events. This time, Making a Murderer got the ripped-from-headlines treatment, as Biden addressed the importance of testing rape kits. Lieutenant Olivia Benson noted one recent case in which a man was exonerated after 16 years in prison, thanks to a newly tested rape kit that proved his innocence. Sadly, by the end of the episode, titled “Making a Rapist,” that man turns out to be guilty of a far more grisly crime. As always, the scenarios and particulars change a bit, but the inspiration rings loud and clear.

Biden’s appearance was largely the result of his friendship with Mariska Hargitay (who plays Benson). He’s received an award from the actress’s Joyful Heart Foundation, and worked with her on a P.S.A. about sexual assault. She even narrated his video introduction for the D.N.C.

It’s a match made in heaven, and it’s also pretty remarkable. As Hargitay’s co-star Ice-T put it at a roundtable: “You know I got a lot of friends, but I’m like, ‘Yo, show up at my job,’ and they’re like, ‘Nah, I ain’t that close to you, homie.’ And to be able to get a vice president to actually arrange his schedule to do TV, c’mon, be serious.”

Southside with You Isn’t the First Movie to Focus On a Sitting President

Barack Obama, Southside with You (2016)

Ah, yes: the one everyone’s been talking about—a chance to follow the Obamas on their first date. The film, which debuted at Sundance and comes out with a wide release this Friday, stands out among the other biopics because its central focus is not directly on politics—although it does winkingly allude to what’s to come.

As Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson wrote, “as biography, Southside With You is lacking. But simply as a romance, the film works nicely. Tanne paces his film gently, a series of getting-to-know-you vignettes that amount to basically the best (sex-free) first date ever. Captured by Patrick Scola’s gauzy cinematography and scored by Stephen James Taylor's dreamy compositions, this budding love affair is rendered gracefully, with little schmaltz.”

Photo: Courtesy of Get Lifted Film Company.

Barack Obama, Barry (2016)

Southside with You isn’t this year’s only Obama biopic, though: there’s also Barry, a Canadian film due out September 10.

According to Variety, Barry follows a college-aged Obama through New York City. Film newcomer Devon Terrell will play Obama, with Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) to star opposite him as the film’s female lead, whose identity has yet to be revealed.

Photo: Courtesy of Black Bear Pictures.

George W. Bush, W. (2008)

Another film from Bush’s presidency is a more direct biopic: W., which starred Brolin as Dubya himself. The biopic flits between flashbacks to major events in Bush’s life from the 1960s onward, chronicling his ascent to political leadership from his infamous days as a Yale party boy.

The film received four stars from Roger Ebert, who called it “fascinating”:

“No other word for it. I became absorbed in its story of a poor little rich kid’s alcoholic youth and torturous adulthood. This is the tragedy of a victim of the Peter Principle. Wounded by his father's disapproval and preference for his brother Jeb, the movie argues, George W. Bush rose and rose until he was finally powerful enough to stain his family’s legacy.”

Photo: From Lionsgate/Everett Collection.

George W. Bush, Recount (2008)

Unlike the others, this film wasn’t directly about Bush so much as the controversial election that launched him into the presidency.

The film primarily follows Democratic strategists Ron Klain and Michael Whouley, as portrayed by Kevin Spacey and Denis Leary, zeroing in on the time between election day and the Supreme Court ruling that affirmed Bush’s victory in the electoral college—which, in turn, won Bush the presidency even though he garnered 540,000 fewer votes than Gore. (This made Bush the fourth president to ascend without winning popular vote.)

The film wonLaura Dern (who played Katherine Harris, Florida’s Secretary of State at the time) a Golden Globe, alongside nominations for Spacey, Leary, and Tom Wilkinson. It also won three Emmys: Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special, Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie, and Outstanding Made for Television Movie.

Photo: From AF Archive/Alamy.

Richard Nixon, Richard (1972)

In this pre-Watergate satirical romp, Nixon impersonator Richard M. Dixon and actor Dan Resin teamed up to portray Nixon and his younger self. Put simply, the film puts an absurdist spin on Nixon’s rise to power—one that involves a want ad for a politician, some plastic surgery, and a guardian angel (played by Mickey Rooney).

Photo: From Everett Collection.

Richard Nixon, Another Nice Mess (1972)

Richard wasn’t the only film to satirize the president in 1972: Another Nice Mess also took a stab at Nixon, or “Richie,” as the president in the film is called. He and his V.P., Spiro Agnew, get into some serious trouble around D.C., according to TCM:

“While Richie deals with peace demonstrations and other tribulations of his presidency, Spiro lusts after his secretary. As the two men watch the television program ABC Wide World of Sports, they get high eating cookies laced with marijuana. Meanwhile, an elderly, Hawaiian-shirt wearing Adolf Hitler disguises himself as a mailbox and is killed when someone throws a bomb inside.”

Photo: Digital Colorization by Ben Park.

John F. Kennedy, PT 109 (1963)

This biopic centered on Kennedy’s time in the Navy, when he took command of Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 in the South Pacific during World War II. A young Cliff Robertson (who more recently played Uncle Ben Parker in Sam Raimi’sSpider-Man series) played Kennedy. The film was not only the first commercial feature to center on a sitting president; it was also released mere months before Kennedy’s assassination in 1963.

Kennedy’s father, who at one time had been a Hollywood studio head, got the ball rolling himself on the project, which adapted war correspondent Robert J. Donovan’s book, PT 109: John F. Kennedy in WWII. According to TCM, Kennedy himself liked Robertson best for the role—although Jackie Kennedy Onassis preferred Warren Beatty.

Photo: From Everett Collection.

Barack Obama, Southside with You (2016)

Ah, yes: the one everyone’s been talking about—a chance to follow the Obamas on their first date. The film, which debuted at Sundance and comes out with a wide release this Friday, stands out among the other biopics because its central focus is not directly on politics—although it does winkingly allude to what’s to come.

As Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson wrote, “as biography, Southside With You is lacking. But simply as a romance, the film works nicely. Tanne paces his film gently, a series of getting-to-know-you vignettes that amount to basically the best (sex-free) first date ever. Captured by Patrick Scola’s gauzy cinematography and scored by Stephen James Taylor's dreamy compositions, this budding love affair is rendered gracefully, with little schmaltz.”

Courtesy of Get Lifted Film Company.

Barack Obama, Barry (2016)

Southside with You isn’t this year’s only Obama biopic, though: there’s also Barry, a Canadian film due out September 10.

According to Variety, Barry follows a college-aged Obama through New York City. Film newcomer Devon Terrell will play Obama, with Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) to star opposite him as the film’s female lead, whose identity has yet to be revealed.

Courtesy of Black Bear Pictures.

George W. Bush, W. (2008)

Another film from Bush’s presidency is a more direct biopic: W., which starred Brolin as Dubya himself. The biopic flits between flashbacks to major events in Bush’s life from the 1960s onward, chronicling his ascent to political leadership from his infamous days as a Yale party boy.

The film received four stars from Roger Ebert, who called it “fascinating”:

“No other word for it. I became absorbed in its story of a poor little rich kid’s alcoholic youth and torturous adulthood. This is the tragedy of a victim of the Peter Principle. Wounded by his father's disapproval and preference for his brother Jeb, the movie argues, George W. Bush rose and rose until he was finally powerful enough to stain his family’s legacy.”

From Lionsgate/Everett Collection.

George W. Bush, Recount (2008)

Unlike the others, this film wasn’t directly about Bush so much as the controversial election that launched him into the presidency.

The film primarily follows Democratic strategists Ron Klain and Michael Whouley, as portrayed by Kevin Spacey and Denis Leary, zeroing in on the time between election day and the Supreme Court ruling that affirmed Bush’s victory in the electoral college—which, in turn, won Bush the presidency even though he garnered 540,000 fewer votes than Gore. (This made Bush the fourth president to ascend without winning popular vote.)

The film wonLaura Dern (who played Katherine Harris, Florida’s Secretary of State at the time) a Golden Globe, alongside nominations for Spacey, Leary, and Tom Wilkinson. It also won three Emmys: Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special, Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie, and Outstanding Made for Television Movie.

From AF Archive/Alamy.

Bill Clinton, Primary Colors (1992)

Unlike other films about sitting presidents, Primary Colors was actually a roman à clef.John Travolta’s character, Arkansas governor Jack Stanton, was a stand-in for Bill Clinton in this movie, which was based on the novel by an anonymous author eventually revealed to be Joe Klein. Joining Travolta were Emma Thompson (who played Hillary look-alike Susan Stanton), Billy Bob Thornton as the film’s James Carville stand-in, and Kathy Bates, who earned an Oscar nomination for her turn as Libby Holden, a campaign chief of staff based on Betsey Wright and Vince Foster.

From Universal/Everett Collection.

Richard Nixon, Richard (1972)

In this pre-Watergate satirical romp, Nixon impersonator Richard M. Dixon and actor Dan Resin teamed up to portray Nixon and his younger self. Put simply, the film puts an absurdist spin on Nixon’s rise to power—one that involves a want ad for a politician, some plastic surgery, and a guardian angel (played by Mickey Rooney).

From Everett Collection.

Richard Nixon, Another Nice Mess (1972)

Richard wasn’t the only film to satirize the president in 1972: Another Nice Mess also took a stab at Nixon, or “Richie,” as the president in the film is called. He and his V.P., Spiro Agnew, get into some serious trouble around D.C., according to TCM:

“While Richie deals with peace demonstrations and other tribulations of his presidency, Spiro lusts after his secretary. As the two men watch the television program ABC Wide World of Sports, they get high eating cookies laced with marijuana. Meanwhile, an elderly, Hawaiian-shirt wearing Adolf Hitler disguises himself as a mailbox and is killed when someone throws a bomb inside.”

Digital Colorization by Ben Park.

John F. Kennedy, PT 109 (1963)

This biopic centered on Kennedy’s time in the Navy, when he took command of Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 in the South Pacific during World War II. A young Cliff Robertson (who more recently played Uncle Ben Parker in Sam Raimi’sSpider-Man series) played Kennedy. The film was not only the first commercial feature to center on a sitting president; it was also released mere months before Kennedy’s assassination in 1963.

Kennedy’s father, who at one time had been a Hollywood studio head, got the ball rolling himself on the project, which adapted war correspondent Robert J. Donovan’s book, PT 109: John F. Kennedy in WWII. According to TCM, Kennedy himself liked Robertson best for the role—although Jackie Kennedy Onassis preferred Warren Beatty.